Runner of Storms

Hershey_Park_Middle_x_Velocity.PNG

x velocity = 11.60 m/s
m = 8255 kg
KE = .5mv^2 = 555.4 kJ
p = mv = 9.58 x 10^4 kg * m/s

Storm Runner Accelerating

Hershey_Park_Acceleration_x_Velocity.PNG
m = 8255 kg
a = 11.34 m/s^2
v final = 12.0866 m/s
change in time = 1.033 sec
Change in p = mv - mv = 12.0866 * 8255 = 9.98 * 10^4 kg*m/s
Change in KE = 1/2 mv^2 = 603.0 kJ

Concluding Statements

Comparing the start kinetic energy and about that halfway through the ride, there has been about 50 kJ of energy lost which is reasonable, due to friction (and human error). Overall I would have expected the velocity of the the roller coasters to be a lot greater, but the two different numbers I gathered were rather close for different parts of the ride so there is some precision. One assumption that I made on the curved section of video was that the y component of velocity was not too important and not as accurately recorded as possible, and therefore was neglected.